All caregivers need a break. The more chronic the condition, the more important it is. Strokes and dementias, because they require 24 hours monitoring every day of the year, take multiple years for a caregiver to mentally and physically recover, even with respite care. The same stress applies to shorter term conditions, just to a lesser extent. The purpose is to disengage, reduce stress, relax, and reset.

Respite care is often overlooked and unbudgeted until the need is urgent. Everything else has a higher priority. That doesn’t need to be the case.

The relief should be planned, and provide dependable, predictable, regular care, so that the caregiver can get the most complete relief possible from daily caregiving responsibilities. It can be for hours, days, weeks, or longer depending on the situation and frequency.

a) The caregiver needs to prepare for it. If someone else provides care in your home for more than a few hours, they need to manage two routines, the care recipient’s, and the household’s.

b) It must be dependable so the caregiver knows the recipient is safe and can relax.

c) It must be predictable so that the caregiver can plan for it and look forward to it.

d) It must be regular to make scheduling manageable, and reduce caregiver churn if possible.

The care recipient’s condition and duration of respite determines where to turn for help. Options include adult day care, short-term assisted living, in home care with another caregiver, or a care recipient’s stay with a friend/relative.